I see it as an extra tool in my toolkit. Sometimes it is best to use some wood. Sometimes it is best to design and 3d print something.

Currently designing and printing protection for my racing bike shoes; those shimano cleads wear quickly when walking. I need to walk quite a bit before being on the street and also like to take a break somewhere at a restaurant. So I designed some tpu clead-protectors.

Also use my self designed kitchen-aid tool-hangers are used a lot. I have made hooks to hang the espresso machine filter holders on. Used daily. A pin to fix something in my car. A button for the piezo starter on my parents kitch hob. Handles, USB charger case + hangers for cables... parametric-configurable stand for plant pots. etc etc.

But you need some 3d cad skills. Downloading existing models and printing them does not offer that much. Im a developer who studied mechanical engineering :) I worked at Ultimaker as a developer. Worked on their digital factory, a cloud offering for their printers.

My kids tease me because they say all I print are things to hold other things. For example, I printed a bracket to attach a 4-port router and a USB power supply to the underside of my desk. I’ve printed tool holders and little boxes to store 3d printer parts in. I printed a stand to hold my laptop in clamshell mode.

I’ve also printed jigs and router templates used in some minor woodworking projects.

Not super useful, but it’s pretty satisfying to have and idea, create it in TinkerCAD or Fusion, then see it materialize on the build plate.

I fix broken stuff for my house all the time. A 50 year old exterior crawlspace vent broke, and so I modeled up a new one and printed it in two pieces. Sliding closet door brackets, folding table feet, pieces for light fixtures even.

I replaced a Hi-ho-cherry-o board game piece that got mistakenly thrown out.

I've made anti-tip brackets for furniture.

I made replacement nuts for a handed-down Fisher Price activity center.

I made a new encoder wheel for a Logitech force feedback joystick.

I made a sharpie egg plotter a few years ago. That's fun to pull out for Easter. I can run the same gcode files from previous years.

My half-decade hobby project has been to build a force feedback steering wheel from scratch. I started it before I got into 3D printing. Printing became my hobby for a few years, and last year I started over with primarily 3D printed components. I did some prototypes with cycloidal gearboxes, but it was a dead end. I designed a compact 2-stage planetary gearbox with an 80:1 reduction and printed it all out. I printed a bracket to mount all the electronics. Most recently, I printed a slick dashboard for it in wood PLA. It's pretty much done now, and looks pretty. It's a full size steering wheel, and can put out more torque than you would ever want.

Most recently, I printed out some custom play coins for my daughter's preschool. They have our dog's face on one side, and the school's name on the other.